Edmund Jowett

Edmund Jowett (6 January 1858 – 14 April 1936) was an Australian politician and an early deputy leader of the Australian Country Party.

Early life

Jowett was born in Yorkshire, England, at Bradford, on 6 January 1858 to Joseph Jowett and Sarah, nee Craven. He attended Mr James Ward's Classical School at Clapham Common in London and went to his uncle's wool mill at Thornton. He migrated to Melbourne in Australia in 1876 with his father and elder brother Charles, where he worked on "The Argus" and contributed to the "Australasian Banking Record". He married Annette Rose McCallum on 24 November 1883 at East St Kilda.

Pastoralist

Jowett gradually accumulated property in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, eventually controlling more than forty and owned over six million acres (24,000 km²). "The Bulletin" stated at his death that he had owned more sheep than anyone in the world. He was appointed growers' representative on the Central Wool Committee (a wartime institution) in 1916, and also served on the Commonwealth Bureau of Commerce and Industry and the Victorian Meat Advisory Committee.

Politics

Jowett was influenced as a young man by Sir Frederick Sargood; his early political activity consists of membership of the Young Victorian Patriotic League and campaigning for conscription. In 1917 he became the first Victorian vice-president of the Nationalist Party; in the election of that year he unsuccessfully contested the seat of Maribyrnong. However, in October he won the by-election for the seat of Grampians that followed the death of Charles Salmon, and became a member of the Country Party in 1920. His seat was abolished in 1922, and he contested Bendigo instead, but was unsuccessful. He continued to be active in the Country Party.

Later life

An advocate of electoral reform and proportional representation, Jowett always encouraged the immigration of Britons to Australia. He also produced a number of publications, and was a company director for some years. On 14 April 1936 he died at Strathane, one of his properties in the Queensland district of Leyburn, and was buried at St Kilda. He was survived by his wife, a son and three daughters.

One of his grandsons was the cabinet minister David Fairbairn.

Publications

*"The Unnatural Fall in Prices Due to Currency Legislation" (1895)
*"The Ruinous Fall in the Prices of Produce and the Prevailing Scarcity of Money" (1894)
*"Electoral reform for Australia" (1917)
*"Proportional Representation for the Senate" (1919)

References

*Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Rydon |first=Joan |authorlink=|year=1983|id=A090523b.htm|title= Jowett, Edmund (1858 - 1936) |accessdate=2008-03-29

Persondata
NAME=Jowett, Edmund
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Australian politician
DATE OF BIRTH=6 January 1858
PLACE OF BIRTH= Bradford, Yorkshire
DATE OF DEATH=14 April 1936
PLACE OF DEATH=Leyburn, Queensland